fbpx

Should You Be Considering Tax-Loss Harvesting?

By |2022-11-29T16:30:53+00:00December 6, 2022|Financial Market|

As we’ve mentioned numerous times, temporary declines in stock market prices become permanent only when you sell out of those positions. If a stock or fund loses value, it’s best to fight the urge to cut your losses while it’s only a loss on paper, because you don’t know when it might recover. Thus the strategy of holding a diverse portfolio (where all instruments are less likely to decline at once) with a view to the long-term is designed to keep you from missing out on [...]

Comments Off on Should You Be Considering Tax-Loss Harvesting?

Inflation: the good, the bad and the truth

By |2022-10-18T13:56:38+00:00October 17, 2022|Financial Market, Income Taxes, Retirement Income Planning, Tax Planning, Theus Wealth Advisors, Uncategorized|

Recently, a number of folks have asked me:  So… we know you’re a pretty optimistic person. But what’s the most bearish or worst-case scenario for the stock market right now? There is a lot of bad news despite the media attempting to paint things in a good light. In truth, you have to balance being optimistic with being realistic. I’m a long-term optimist with an understanding that things can and will get really bad on occasion. See history. It’s just how things work when humans [...]

Comments Off on Inflation: the good, the bad and the truth

How long will high inflation last and what should you do about it?

By |2022-09-10T19:49:34+00:00July 26, 2022|Financial Market|

Most people understand that inflation is when prices go up. To be more precise, the International Monetary Fund defines it this way: "Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. Inflation is typically a broad measure, such as the overall increase in prices or the increase in the cost of living in a country (emphasis added)." While many measures of economic activity can seem abstract and far removed from everyday life, inflation affects all of us in ways we can't ignore. American [...]

Comments Off on How long will high inflation last and what should you do about it?

A stock picker asks: Is it really worth all the work?

By |2022-09-10T19:49:35+00:00July 5, 2022|Financial Market|

When it comes to stocks, it’s easy to have a short memory. Everybody seems focused on what’s happening today and the near future. What are the pundits saying about this week? What are the forecasters predicting for the next quarter? Back in 2020, after the market shook off the shock of the pandemic, it came roaring back and major indexes like the S&P 500 ended the year at record levels. Going into 2021, stocks like Nordstrom and Peloton didn’t just recover, but reached new highs. For [...]

Comments Off on A stock picker asks: Is it really worth all the work?

Don’t Let Them Get Inside Your Head

By |2022-09-10T19:49:35+00:00June 20, 2022|Financial Market|

We talk about this all the time: the media has a powerful influence on its audience, and more times than not, what they choose to report on does not line up with what matters most. This disconnect can pose real risk to investors. The chart below is from an article that compares the difference between causes of death in the U.S. to what is most reported in the news1. It’s meant to question whether there is a disconnect between what we see in the news and what is reality. [...]

Comments Off on Don’t Let Them Get Inside Your Head

Why “buying the dip” is not a foolproof investing strategy

By |2022-09-10T19:49:35+00:00June 7, 2022|Financial Market|

On its face the strategy of “buying the dip” seems much more measured than merely trying to identify low-cost stocks that are destined to become the next Apple. But it’s still a risky strategy. Just like it sounds, to buy the dip is to purchase stocks that are temporarily undervalued. For example, Pitney Bowes, Paypal, and Meta (formerly Facebook) are all well-known, category-leading companies whose share prices have recently experienced a significant decline. Buying the dip would mean purchasing them at a discount (their current low [...]

Comments Off on Why “buying the dip” is not a foolproof investing strategy

Good Days Follow Bad Days

By |2022-09-10T19:49:37+00:00May 3, 2022|Financial Market|

If the stock market were a person, you would not want to be around them very much. Imagine a friend who reacts unpredictably to every major piece of economic news, often several times a day. One minute they’re on top of the world. The next minute they’re sitting in a dark corner with their head in their hands declaring it’s all over. These are the daily ups and downs of a market that moves with complete unpredictability. It’s no wonder that investors who try to make [...]

Comments Off on Good Days Follow Bad Days

When to View Charts and Graphs with Healthy Skepticism

By |2022-09-10T19:49:38+00:00April 12, 2022|Financial Market|

Pictures help us make sense of data. For example, when paleontologists unearth a single tooth, they can tell a lot about the animal it came from, including whether or not it’s a new species. When they publish their findings for their peers, they will include pages and pages of data. But when the discovery is announced to the public, it will likely be accompanied by a highly detailed illustration of the animal in its natural setting. The pictured animal is based on the data, but if [...]

Comments Off on When to View Charts and Graphs with Healthy Skepticism

When a Crystal Ball is No Advantage

By |2022-09-10T19:49:38+00:00April 5, 2022|Financial Market|

One of the favorite tropes of time travel stories—movies, novels, or TV shows—is the prescient investor. This is a character who becomes fabulously wealthy by traveling to the past and buying high performing stocks before they take off. It’s a handy way to create a character with limitless resources, but it also fulfills the fantasy of every speculator: picking exactly the right stock again and again. Knowing what was going to happen in the future, a character could achieve the same result by buying winning lottery [...]

Comments Off on When a Crystal Ball is No Advantage

Why Worrying About the Things You Can’t Control Holds You Back From Reaching Your Goals

By |2022-08-19T17:08:47+00:00March 1, 2022|Financial Market, Retirement Income Planning|

We have a friend who’s a devoted fan of his university’s football team. When he watches them play, he wears a team hat and hopes they win. When they lose, he puts the outcome in perspective. There’s always next week. It’s only a game. But he didn’t used to be this philosophical. Several years back he was truly a fanatical fan. He was deeply invested in the outcome of each game. He disliked the opposing schools and their fans. He detested his team’s longtime rivals like [...]

Comments Off on Why Worrying About the Things You Can’t Control Holds You Back From Reaching Your Goals
Go to Top